Federal judge rules in favor of allowing SCOTUS case over trans athletes to proceed after attempt to dismiss

With the Supreme Court set to hear the Little vs. Hecox case, Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador will have a big decision to make in the national movement to keep trans athletes out of women's and girls' sports.

FIRST ON FOX: The legal defense to "save women's sports" scored a big win in its Supreme Court battle over transgender athletes this week.

After an Idaho trans athlete tried to have the potential landmark SCOTUS case dropped, a federal judge struck down the attempt to dismiss it and ruled that the case should proceed.

U.S. District Judge David Nye, appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017, rejected former Boise State trans athlete Lindsay Hecox's motion to dismiss the case. The trans athlete started the legal battle in 2020, but tried to have it dismissed in September after the Supreme Court agreed in July to hear the case. 

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Now Nye has denied Hecox’s request.

Nye emphasized that after years of litigation, "[Idaho] has a fair right to have its arguments heard and adjudicated once and for all." And that, "[T]he Court feels {Hecox’s} mootness argument is, as above, somewhat manipulative to avoid Supreme Court review and should not be endorsed."

The Little v. Hecox lawsuit was initially filed by Hecox in 2020, when the trans athlete wanted to join the women's cross-country team at Boise State, and had the state's law to prevent trans athletes from competing in women's sports blocked.

Hecox was joined by an anonymous biological female student, Jane Doe, who was concerned about the potential of being subjected to the sex dispute verification process. The challenge was successful, as a federal judge blocked Idaho's state law. 

A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals